Study: Deregulation Still Haunts Harbor Truckers

The deregulation of the U.S. trucking industry by the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 continues to impact how the 7,000 truckers who deliver and pick up containers daily at the ports of New York and New Jersey earn their livelihood.

It has resulted in lower trucker earnings, driver shortages, higher truck emissions and mounting inefficiencies, says a new study by David Bensman, professor of labor studies and employment relations at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, and Yael Bromberg, a student at Rutgers School of Law-Newark.

The study based its conclusions on a survey of 299 truck drivers selected at random at the ports of Newark, Elizabeth and Bayonne.

Since the 1980 law, most of the trucking firms conducting business to and from the nation